Huawei P20 Pro: the best low-light shooter hands down

FOR low-light mobile photography, Huawei's P20 Pro smartphone is in a league of its own.

This is one incredible camera - a device that in night shooting mode literally sucks every bit of light out of a scene to produce more than the average eye can see.

The Huawei P20 Pro features the world's first Leica triple camera which also incorporates some very clever artificial intelligence advances.

Huawei P20 Pro put to the test.Mark Furler

We put it to the test shooting in a dark rainforest during an early morning walk, as well as doing night shoots where the only lighting was the headlights of passing cars or street lights.

Even without a tripod, the P20 Pro managed to produce images of a starry night with surprisingly little blur.
The triple camera configuration is comprised of a 40MP RGB sensor, a 20MP monochrome sensor and an 8MP sensor with telephoto lens.

The cameras off f/1.8, f/1.6 and f/2.4 wide aperture while a hybrid zoom offers up to five times zoom.

The technology is not perfect with the biggest fault being oversaturated images.

Huawei P20 Pro put to the test.Mark Furler

In our rainforest shoot, it brought out the green superbly well even in darkened forests - so while the photos were great to look at - they did not represent what you saw with the natural eye.

Of course, there are many ways you can adjust settings, including in Pro mode where you can adjust ISO, shutter speed, focal point, white balance and exposure settings.

Huawei P20 Pro put to the test.Mark Furler

But if you are looking for great photos to show off to your friends on Facebook and Instagram, this is your shooter.

The 24MP selfie camera offers AI beautification (which will take years off your face) as well as 3D portrait lighting.

On the outside, the P20 Pro is more than fashionable, though slightly larger and thicker than the iPhone X in the hand.

Huawei P20 Pro put to the test.Mark Furler

Unlike the Samsung S9, its screen is not rounded but is nonetheless impressive in its 6.1 inch OLED configuration. It supports HDR10 full dynamic range, making it great for watching high quality videos.

In speed tests, it doesn't rate as well as the Samsung S9 but even playing the most graphic intensive games, we found no real lag or sluggishness.

Huawei P20 Pro put to the test.Mark Furler

Other reviews have noted the interface and user experience has been improved. As someone who uses both Android and Apple devices, it was easy to switch.

The 4000mAh battery is one of the most generous on the market and features super fast charging. Huawei says it can handle 22 hours of internet use, 22 hours of continuous video playback, 89 hours of continuous music playback or 25 hours of talk-time.

Huawei P20 Pro put to the test.Mark Furler

For light use, it is a phone than be easily be charged every couple of days.

The phone boasts 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The minuses are the lack of storage expansion options and the lack of 3.5mm audio jack, though there is an adapter.

Huawei P20 Pro has some interesting settings. We used fireworks for this shot.Mark Furler

For security, it has a fingerprint scanner on the home screen and facial recognition.

With a retail price of $1099, the P20 Pro offers a hell of a lot of phone and photography for the price. It's certainly in my top three phones, along with the iPhone X and Samsung S9 Plus.